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About Christian index and South-western Baptist. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1866-1871 | View Entire Issue (July 8, 1869)
106 § jidcx Mil ftapttet /. J, TOON, - - ■ • Proprietor. Bov. D. SHAVER, D.D., Editor. THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1869. ‘‘Brotherhood of the New Life.” The New York Observer mentions the estab ment of anew religious community on the shore of Lake Erie, in Chautauqua county, consisting of about sixty adults, besides a number of chil dren. As this movement began in October 1867, we can hardly congratulate the Observer on its despatch in communicating the intelligence to the Christian public. And we might have better ap preciated the candid bearing of that paper, if it had not suppressed dates, as though aiming to conceal its own tardiness in the premises. But let that pass. We refer to the matter by request, and because the leader of the enterprise, “Rev.” Thomas Lake Harris, is not unknown in our State. He began public life, as a noted preacher of the Uni versalist “ persuasionbut, for a dozen years or more, he has claimed to be a “Seer” of the Swedenborgian type, discerning in the Scriptures a three-fold sense—the internal, the spiritual or celestial, and the superior and archetypal,—and privileged withal to visit the scenes, or to behold the mysteries, of the Unseen World. In this character, he has once or twice passed through Georgia, and gathered a handful of (nominal) ad herents among us. Mr. Harris, if we may credit his testimony, was once “in the spirit in a large city in the lowest of the Upper Earths of Spirits,” (wherever that may be,) “devoted to the reception of Cal vinists who retain some germ of good,” in spite of their system, “ and are capable of becoming angelic.” There “ the frost lay upon the door stone of every dwelling, and the ice was in the pools before the windows ;” but “ now and then a spicy breath, with the summer in it, alternated most agreeably with the boreal blasts”—a breath coming from “ a great, high mountain, eastward beyond waters', resting upon snow-covered plains, but rising through temperate zones into a tropic world.” As this (mythical) mountain traverses all the laws of the mountains on our globe, the views and the phraseology of Mr. Harris run counter to the usual lines of thought and forms of expression in theological literature; and we find it exceedingly difficult to frame them into intelligible language of our own, even with the help of the extended report in a recent issue of the N. Y. Sun, and a volume of his own “Arcana of Christianity” now lying before us. We ven ture on the experiment, however. Mr. Harris, like Swedenborg, rejects the doc trine of the Trinity ; and we are gravely informed that in order to the correction of this error in Trinitarians when they pass from the present state, there must be drawn from “ connected cells in the brain” of the spiritual body, “a little, glittering, three-headed viper—in reality, not one serpent, but three, bodily interwoven with heads and tails apart”—which “serpents are the three falsities that they cherished and preached” here, ‘as a doctrine of three person alities in God.’ Like Swedenborg, too, Mr. Harris holds that our Lord Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the one God —the whole and only divinity in human flesh—the Father, Sen and Spirit centered in a single personality; while “in his assumed body were as many degrees of substance as exist throughout the universal series of divine creations, since otherwise the lucarna tion would not have been from beginnings to ends, from first to last, and from causes to consequen ces." Beyond this point Mr. Harris seems to have impressed the system largely with his own peculiarities, and the difficulties of our attempt at translation increase. The following, however, appears to us a fair statement in outline. In the wonderful constitution of our‘ natures, we bear about, within the natural body, a spir itual body: and we are good, or evil, in propor tion as the spiritual rules the natural or the nat ural rules the spiritual. Prior to the fall of man, the Holy Spirit breathed into the lungs of the spiritual man and, by means of these, through the organ of the frame: the spiritual ruled the natural. When man sinned, the access between the two pairs of lungs was obstructed, and the organs of the frame were filled by “the breaths which emanate from Pandemonium:” the natural ruled the spiritual. The great work of Christ was “ properly a battle of respirationthrough the divine breath, he overcame the breaths of the whole world and of hell itself: in other words, “ He conquered back the lost respiration of the orb,” and herein consisted His atonement— herein our redemption through Him. “The lungs,” then, “are the womb of the new birth and the process of that birth consists in the re moval of the obstruction between the spiritual and the natural lungs of men, that ‘the whole being may be surrendered to the incoming breath of the Redeemer.’ This ‘ re-opening of therespi ratories,’ and ‘the continual breathing of the Lord, by His divine Spirit, through the spiritual into the natural lungs,’ is the new life. Those who receive it become a brotherhood, because the internal respiration, which is the bond of union in the Lord, “broadens the area of sensa tion,” and each “experiences the sensations of others, as within himself;” so that the godly, while recognizing the impure with instinctive repulsion, are drawn together in unselfish affini ties, and find persenol in mutual happiness. This influence will recast human society, in communi ties after the model of that on the shore of Lake Erie. These communities—or “ open-respiring churches”—are “building for freedom her last fortress on earth,” since “ the spirit of liberty is abandoning thb political social edifice, both in Europe and America.” They await, too, “the fourth kingdom, wherein the spirits of men shall be filled with the Divine Spirit of Christ and the bodies of men with the Divine Body of Christ, so that the ensoulment and embodiment of Chris tianity shall be complete.” “And the time is at hand.” This is the shadowy basis of that Millennarian ism, which has attracted to Mr. Harris a body of men, mostly successful in life and endowed with the riches of this world —including, among oth ers, Lady Oliphant, and her son, lately a member of the British Parliament. His adherents main tain habits of industry; are ruled by a Council of Direction, whose nineteen members take no step without absolute unanimity ; and inculcate the utmost purity in the relation of the sexes, on the usual Swedenborgian ground that “conjugial” ties formed in the present life are perpetuated in the life to come. The subscriber at whose instance we have written the foregoing paragraphs, will suffer us to add one or two, on our own account. We wish to illustrate, a little farther, from the “Arcana” of Mr. Harris, his wild «nd visionary type of mind. Here is an extract, which we beg leave to dedi cate to Rev. Dr. Haven, editor of Zion's Herald, (the Boston organ of the Methodist Episcopal church,) eulogist of the black race and advocate of amalgamation : “I was conducted to Mars in spirit, and there beheld a representation of the world-soul of our orb; the spirits of African nation in her brain, of European nations in her lungs, of Mohamme dans in the loins, and of Asiatics in the principal organs of the viseera; of the Anglo-Saxon race in THE CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SODTH-WESTERN BAPTIST: ATLANTA, GA„ THURSDAY, JULY S, 1869. Australia and America in the right and left arms. . . I was surprised to observe t bat the. African race occupied a position within the cerebrum and cerebellum : but soon observed the reason. At the present time the dormant intellectual facul ties of the African people are replete with stored up germs of the most sublime arts, sciences, phi losophies and inventions, in first principles. A new creation is literally existing there; and that race which is supposed to be the lowest on the earth, is really the highest from the stand-point of the Celestial Heaven. . . Spiritually the Afri can is the most inoffensive of all Earth’s inhabi tants, and the most easily elevated into angelhood after the decease of the body." Historians of “the Great Rebellion” from what they regard as very nearly “the stand-point of the Celestial Heaven,’’ will find important aid in the next quotation; unless, indeed, Dr. Peck’s “God in America” should reach a second edition—in which case, we strenuously urge all men to re cognize the pre-emptive title of that “inspired” writer to a testimony so exactly in his own vein: “I saw George B. McClellan in the Spiritual World, riding between two demon chiefs, one call ing himself Kleber, and the other Soult, though these names were pretences. I asked the reason why he was seen thus accompanied, and was told that he was fearfully infested, and that their mis sion to him was to form an external fatuous plane about his mind, so that he might waste away the armies of the Republic entrusted to his charge. I was taken in spirit to a battle-field near Rich mond, Virginia, and beheld almost a million of spiritual vampyres and wanderers, in the middle expanse of ether. They encompassed the city of Richmond as with a triple wall, their mission be ing to deplete the armies of the Republic of ani mal life, and to nourish thereby the despotic forces. I beheld the spirit of a man, known in the body as a bishop of the Episcopal church, by name Meade; he was mounted on a pale, spectral horse, riding through the ranks of the vampyres, and seen by them as St. lago in the legend moving before the Spanish chivalry, a false prophet of the demon god; with him were many ecclesiastics. I saw the traitor, Jefferson Davis, on his knees in a private cabinet, confessing his sins in a fantasy, while at the same time the spiritual demon who governs him, whispered in his ear encourage ments to the belief, that, come what might, his calling and election were being made sure. He is one of those whose conscience has been drugged through intercourse with demons, and whose lungs(!) reek with crime. In the visions of the night I beheld a mighty man from Pandemonium, instilling into the breast of one of his presiding military chiefs, a subtle wisdom, a defiant cour age, a policy at once daring and circumspect. The same demon has alternately visited this chief and the general of the Republic, spoken of before, so connecting them by magnetic bands, forged as of infernal steel, that the positive sphere of the one saturates the oppressed mind of the other, impeding the operation of the mental faculties. I heard in the night, an angel whispering in the ear of the President of the United States, ‘You must emancipate, you must emancipate;’ but at the same time the evil genius of this kind man, Wove subtle spells to hold him in a state of irresolu tion. I beheld the spirits of the lost inhabitants of the Slave States, almost en masse, moving in advance of the rebel hordes; great numbers of them being present in every battle.” But enough of this “Seer." “Respiration” has two stages. Inspiration, the first, is sufficiently exemplified in these extracts: and now we quietly wait for the second—expiration, which will make an end of the whole matter. “Political Assassination,” again. We read, in an exchange, not long since, the story of a little girl who, at the close of her prayers one night, naively said, “ Good bye, God; good bye, Jesus Christ; I’m go ing to Boston to-morrow.” The little prat tler seems never to have dreamed that They would be with her there. And we strongly incline to think that the editor of the Chris tian Era must have lapsed into her illusion on that, point, when he wrote bis notice of our recent article on “ Political Assassination.” Must he not have been oblivious, for the mo ment, of the Divine Eye, as glancing down on the heart that conceived and the hand that penned his slanderous falsification of our ar ticle ? The Era holds that “no man’s life is safe in Georgia, unless he is ready to sink his individuality and manhood in a tacit approval of Ku-Kluxism ” —(in which case we have most urgent need to make our will, since we have openly and frequently denounced it, and do and will denounce it.) And our article, the Era declares, contains “ a column or more of apologetic reasons for ” this “ lawlessness, which is not only an admission of, but really an encouragement in it.” Is it altogether fan tasy that mingling with these words, we “ hear, 5r seem to hear,” echoes of the adieu, “Good bye, God; good bye, Jesus Christ; I’m in Boston now ” ? No other style of answer, we conceive, is necessary,or appropriate, to the ludicrous (yet infamous) accusation of the Era ; unless it be this. The New York Tribune , which is high Northern, anti-“ Ku-Klux ” authority? says : “ The Christian Index— a Baptist pa per, issued at Atlanta, Georgia—has a long and able leader on ‘ Political Assassination,’ which, while it is mainly a denial of the charges on which its compatriots are arraigned at the North, manages to give the ‘Conserva tives’ some wholesome and timely counsel:” Has the Tribune been smitten with blindness, that it should mistake “an admission of” such lawlessness as the Era supposes to exist here for “ mainly a denial ” of it, and should find “ wholesome and timely counsel ; ’ in “an encouragement” to the assassination of its selectest compatriots ? Or, has the Era wan tonly wrested that obvious purport of our article, which even the pluck of the Tribune would uot venture to misconstrue? Between these alternatives, we leave the reader to his ow r n choice. Divorce and Re-marriage. A divorce may be legal without being Scriptural. In that case, it works no disso lution of the marriage tie in the sight of God. A second marriage of the parties, therefore, is a sin ; and the miuister who celebrates it becomes a partaker of the guilt. He prosti tutes the sanctions of religion to a union which God abhors. What, then, is the Scripture ground of di vorce ? The answer lies in the words of our Saviour, Matt, xix; 9: -‘I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and whoso marrieth her which is put away, doth commit adultery.” Nothing, therefore, but the gross offence which cur Lord specifies, dissolves the bond of mat rimony, and warrants a second marriage. In this view, we believe, all Christian churches concur. The sentiment of evangelical men is a unit here. And our correspondent, at whose request we refer to the subject, will allow us to add that the most momentous considerations demand inflexible adherence to the Scriptural rule, if there is to be any ade quate protection to public morals, on a ques tion fundamental to the purity of society. If we pass this barrier, no other remains which the tide of progressive corruption will not sweep away, until, by authority of law, or by evasion of it, the most trivial pretexts will be accepted as dissolving a relation meant to endure for life, and we shall have, perhaps, a modern as well as an ancient school of Hillel, allowing a husband to put away his wife if she but burns the food she cooks for him ! Except where the Scriptural ground of divorce exists, ministers are under imperative obligations not to celebrate a second marriage, and churches must purge themselves of members w’ho enter into such a connection in these circumstances, until they repent of their iniquity and renounce it. Loose Communion and Unity. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul says : “ There is (1) one body and (2) one Spirit, even as ye are called in (3) one hope of your calling; (4) one Lord, (5) one faith, (6) one baptism, (7) one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all and in you all.” (Ch. iv : 4—6.) We have here what Litton styles a “cat alogue of fundamental unities.” They are seven in number, it is a fact of sortie sig nificance, that baptism is included in the list, and that the Lord’s supper is not. Does it administer no rebuke to the modern spirit oi loose communion ? To make its ground good, that spirit dispenses with the institution which the Apostle has specified, alleging that unity may be maintained withosil it! At the same time, it alleges that unity can'be main tained only with the institution which the Apostle has not specified ! Now, if we have fallen on such evil times that the maintenance of unity must involve the ignoring of the one institution or the other, we prefer to fol low the apostolic specification in the premises. We cannot strike out baptism from the list of “fundamental unities” by Paul, inspired, and insert, in lieu of it, the Lord’s supper, simply because Crammond Kennedy, and such like, pronounce this “ not only a sign but also a means of the oneness of believers” —the oneness being “implied and effected ” by it 1 For us, at least, the letter to the Ephesians is still authority; and, where we have right of action and responsibility for it, the “ one baptism ” must stand, as the divinely-enjoined profession of that “ one faith,” by which the “one body” is knit to the “ one Lord.” Our Zion—in Our Exchanges, etc. Georgia. The Cartersville Express says that ‘S. G. Hill yer, Jr., son of the Rev. S. G. Hiltyer, D.D , an eminent Baptist Minister of this State, has been duly empowered and authorized to preach the Gospel, by the Baptist church of that place.’—Of the 847 Baptist churches hi the State, reported in the Statistical Table of the Minutes of the Con vention for the present year, only 28 are set down as having preaching every Sabbath. Is not this clearly a state of things which should not be?— It is expected that the church at North End mis sion station, Atlanta, will be constituted next Sabbath afternoon. Forty members unite to form it; and we hope they may prove the nucleus of a large and efficient organization. Alabama. The Tuscumbia Herald, we are gratified to learn, closes its fourth year with a larger sub scription list than it has ever had, and a constant ly increasing circulation. It is “a permanent in stitution,” the editor tells us, and wc are sure that it deserves to be.—The proposition for union be tween Missionary and Anti-Missionary Baptists, we judge from the action of the Lost Creek and Tuscaloosa Associations, has failed for the pres ent. —Rev. W. A. Mason, the newly elected pas tor of our church at Glennville, says, at the close of a business letter to us: “The church here is small, the Methodist element being predominant; but with the blessing of God, I hope to see His work prospering soon. Already several souls are enquiring ‘what they must do to be saved.’ I am giving my whole time to this church. I saw, a few days ago, a copy of the Investigator, of Boston. It is taken regularly by one of our citi zens, and is having a bad influence on the com munity. Several are open advocates of its princi ples, among whom is one formerly a class-leader in the M. E. Church. Is this new school infidel ity gaining ground through our whole country ? O, how God’s people should be at work to infuse into the minds of our people the religion of Jesus from the pulpit, the S. school, the press, and in every other way. I heard good news from Ramah church, about fifteen miles west of this, a few days since. At their last meeting, brother Paul lin baptized twelve, and the same number will be baptized next Lord’s day. Pleasant Hill church, seven miles South, is in good condition ; also, Cool Spring, seven miles north. Both of these churches are under the pastoral care of Rev. J. P. W. Brown, the founder, as I am told, of all the churches in this section. We have a goodly number of Baptists in this portion of the State, and they are of the staunchest kind. In order that we may not be overlooked, I have ventured to write particulars in some cases. Henceforth, we hope, by the medium of the pen, and more particularly by our rich harvest of souls, to keep our brethren informed of the fact that we still live.” Arkansas. A Baptist minister reports the baptism of 28 colored persons recently, in twelve and a half minutes.—Seven persons have been baptized at Trenton church, Phillips county, which wants a pastor, —The Arkansas Baptist Convention meets at Helena, Nov. 6th. Kentucky. Rev. A. S. Worrell, Lexington, proposes to pub lish, when a thousand subscribers shall have been obtained, a beautiful, 48 page, octavo monthly, the Baptist Sentinel ; which, with the aid of ‘a num ber of the very best writers in the denomination,’ will seek, without thrusting the peculiar views of the editor unbecomingly on the reader, “to set forth and defend the faith and practice of the great Baptist faqaily; to develop individual piety ; to impress upon the mind of the reader, his obli gations and duties to Christ and His cause; to expose, in a kind spirit, error, wherever found; to foster every good work and system of works known to our denomination ; to oppose, in every proper way, the advancing hosts of Ritualism , in whatever phase presented; and, in fine, to ‘contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.’ " Louisiana. R. H. Brumley writes, from Delhi, that the Bayou Macou Association has never assembled since the war, and more or less of the churches are now extinct. -Home churches, however, have yet a name to live, and he thinks that an Evan gelist, if a zealous, cross-bearing man of God, of gopd abilities, might accomplish much good by itinerating from church to church and from neighborhood to neighborhood. Extinct churches might bp revived, and new churches prganijied. Who will hear the call ? —Tfie Baptist State Con vention was to meet at Mansfield, Re Soto Parish, July 2nd.—There has been a work of grace at Shreveport, (Rev. A. E. Clemons pastor,) with 43 accessions, nearly all by baptism. Missouri. David H. Hickman, Moderator of the General Association, who was in the membership of our churches what Rev. A. P. Williams, D.D., was in the ministry, died June 25th.—A new Baptist mission is to be opened in St. Louis, in the neigh borhood surrounding the German Baptist church, corner of 14th and Carr streets. —There have been 17 accessions to our church at Calvy Sta tion, Gasconade county.—A church has been re organized at Alexandria, QJark county. —A Bap tist house of worship is under contract at Leba non, Laclede county, to cost about 5,000. —Henry C. Redling has been ordained to the ministry at Pleasant Yalley church.—A new church has been organized at Ozark, the county seat of Christian. North Carolina. The Roanoke (colored) Association, at its recent session, reported an incretPse of 1,400 members during the year, and returned thanks to the white Baptists for the use of their churches, until they could build others for themselves.—W. R. Gault ney reports 0 baptisms, at Hillsboro, and F. H. Jones 6 in his new field of labor. Tennessee. Rev. S. H. Ford, LL.D., of the Central church, Memphis, is able to preach again, though he still goes on two crutches. VIRGINIA. A revival is in progress at Fulton, (the Eastern suburbs of Richmond ;) seven have been baptized at Leigh street, and ten others received for bap tism.—R. J. Towill was ordained to the ministry at Zoar church, county, June 17th; sermon by Rev. A. Hall. " Our Colleges. Catalogue of the and Students of How ard College, Marion, Ala., 1868-’69, Pp. 60. The-Faculty includes E. Q. Thornton, A. M., President and Professor of Chemistry, Natural History and Modern Languages; A. B. Goodhue, A. M., Professor of Mathematics and Greek; D. G. Sherman, A. M., Professor of Latin Lan guage and Literature; J. B. Yaiden, A. M., Prin cipal of Preparatory Department; J. H. Hendon, A. 8., Assistant in Preparatory Department. The students, the past session, amounted in num ber to 115. The College—with a competent and efficient Faculty,—an accessible and healthy loca tion, in an intelligent and moral community,— moderate rates of tuition, —and cheaper board than at the colleges of Tennessee, Kentucky or Virginia,—appears (we are glad to see) to be gradually regaining its former prosperity. We shall be greatly disappointed, if the State pride and the denominational self-respect of Alabama Baptists does not speedily and greatly accelerate progress in that direction. Cataloguf. of Richmond College, Session 1868-’69. This Institution, the past session, had 131 stu dents in the Collegiate Department, under the tu ition of Rev. T. G. Jones, D.D., President and Professor of Moral Science; Edmund Harrison, A. M., Professor of Latin and French ; Rev. H. H. Harris, M. A., Professor of Greek and Ger man ; Edward B. Smith, M. A., Professor of Mathematics; B. Puryear, A. M., Professor of Natural Science ; and Rev. J. L. M. Curry, LL.D., Professor of English. There were also 23 stu dents in the Preparatory Department, under H. A. Strode, Tutor in English, Mathematics and Latin. The total number of students, therefore, was 154. For the coming session, the chair of Moral Science has been vacated by the resignation of Dr. Jones, whose successor has not yet been ap pointed : and Edward K. Murray, M. A., takes the place of H. A. Strode. The able Faculty, eligible location, charges, and s thorough discipline of the College, commend it to patron age ; as also the fact that it is the only College in the South which has a distinct School or Chair of English—embracing the- origin, growth, gram matical structure, and philological'peculiarities of the language, and Rhetoric, studies on the lives of eminent English and American writers, with crit ical readings of their productions, and an outline of History, with special-reference to the progress of society, and the of political ideas and constitutional law. Our Foreign Missions. I am glad to say that we begin the new fiscal year under encouraging circumstances. You remember that the Foreign Mission Board, in their recent annual report, use the following language :* “The Boaid are prepared, in view of the results of the last year, and of the necessities of the missions, to recommend an enlarge ment of our work at no distant period. Will it be too much to ask of the churches that they give us during the coming fiscal year the sum of $30,000? With this amount the fields now suffering ff-r an increase of labor ers, and other facilities, may be supplied. If the Convention can sufficiently trust God and the churches to recommend such a policy, there is reason to believe that suitable men can be found as soon as the means are at hand to send them forth. “ With the increasing readiness of the churches,as such,to contribute toour work, the sum proposed is small, compared with their number and ability. It, will be no extrava gant calculation to expect this sum, if the proper energy shall be put forth. Let us ‘expect great things,’ and ‘attempt great things.’ “A wise economy suggests such a progress ive measure. Indeed, the continued existence of our missions depends upon it. The la borers in the field cannot live always. Each of our stations is occupied by a lone mission ary. If one be caU.ed*away by death, his position is left undefended- the work he has prosecuted ceases. We ought not .to wait till his strength is exhausted before aid is sent. “Nor can we shut our eyes to the vastly ex tended openings for missionary labor which God is placing before us. In each- of the provinces occupied by <>ur brethren in China, accessible millions are ready to hear the words of salvation. In almost every part of the Empire, preachers of righteousness may go. And so with Catholic Europe and be nighted Africa. As Baptists, we must not be indifferent to these calls of Providence. Let us go forth in the name and strength of our Redeem.:r, nothing doubting. Let us strive to make Him, His truth, His salvation, and His institutions, known among the benighted of the earth.” 1 am satisfied that Georgia Baptists will be prepared to t&ke their full share in the en deavor we propose. L it too much to re quest that every pastor will consent to se cure for us the cooperation of the church or churches over which he presides? A contri bution from every church. This is our mot to. Will not every one who aims at this, approve himself to his oving Lord and Sa viour? Has Jesus given up a]l, yea, His own life, for us, and shall not we give Him our influence, talents, money, yea, all, that His precious gospei may be sounded out among the nation? ? I will beg that individuals and churches act without delay. We have no time to lose. On behalf of the Board. Jas. B. Taylor, Cor. See. Richmond, July 1,*1569. Church Constituted. On last Saturday we met, according to a previous appointment, and organized ~a new Baptist church in a destitute portion of this county, (Gordon.) I have been preaching to them this year, at the request ol the breth ren, and though they are few in number, (only thirteen,) yet I trust that God, in his good ness, has precious blessings in store for them. They are a zealous and working people, anx ious and waiting for the “ bread of life.” At the same place, early in the Spring, I assisted them in organizing a Sabbath school of fifty scholars and six teachers, which is now in a healthy and growing condition ; and it is hoped that the seeds of knowledge and virtue will be sown in that ground, which will bring forth much fruit to the honor and glory of our blessed Redeemer. M. H. Sanders. Sugar Valley, Ga., June 19,1869. Florida News. We have seated ourself pen in hand to give your readers a few items of Florida news. We have nothing of a very interesting character to communicate, but as “ the Pro prietor” says, we must write, the only alter native left is for us to say, “We will try.” We highly appreciate your efforts to dis seminate the light of gospel truth through our Southern land, and to awaken in our churches and among our members a higher devotion to the cause of Christ, and a more intelligent and earnest zeal in the great work of Education, Missions, Sunday schools, Temperance, etc. Long may you live to do noble service for Christ and truth. You have a few subscribers in this part of our little State, who anxiously look for your weekly visits, and feel that it is no ordinary privilege to be permitted to glean from your precious columus rich food for the mind and heart. If the Master continues us in this part of his vineyard, we hope ere long to add other names to your subscription list, and thus increase your power to do good, by in creasing your circulation. If every Baptist family in Florida would so honor you as to request your weekly visits, we feel confident that our cause, the cause of New Testa ment Christianity, would be greatly strength ened and promoted thereby. Our churches so far as our knowledge extends, are generally in a cold, almost life less state. The spirit of the world seems to have entered the church and is leading captive many who once professed to belong to Christ. Conformity to the world among professing Christians, is an evil of great magnitude. The Master has said : “ If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” One of the evils complained of by brother J. H. Campbell, in a late number of the Index, viz., “A want of discipline in the churches,” is lending its potent aid in retard ing the progress of Gospel truth, and in bringing coldness and dearth upon Zion. We fear that the churches are often slow in exer cising a wholesome Scriptural discipline. Our last Union meeting was held with the Peniel church, five miles frorn Pilatka. The exercises were of a highly interesting charac ter. Brother C. B. Jones—who, if I remember rightly, is from South Carolina, and was a co-laborer with Dr. R. Fuller, during the beginnings of his ministry—opened the dis cussion on the query, “Is our Church Govern ment Scriptural.” This brother also preached a sermon on Sunday morning from a subject which had been previously selected, viz.: “ Did the Divinity participate in the suffer ings of Christ ?” The brethren were so well pleased with this sermon that they determined to have several hundred copies printed for circulation among the churches. Brother Jone§ is now laboring under the appointment of the Home Mission Society, New York. His field is in and around Pilatka. and along the St. John’s River. He is an able minister of the New Testament, and through the Master’s blessing, will accomplish much in this destitute region. J. H. T. Waldo, Fla., June 'ZAth, 1869. Au Alabama District Meeting. The recent Baptist District Meeting, held with our church at Newton, appointed Bro. E. Brooks Chairman, and W. D. Wood, Secretary. The queries presented for debate and solution by the committee of arrange ments, (Brethren P. M. Callaway, J. Poyner and C. Smith,) were answered, as follows : Ist. Does the 16th verse of the 2d chapter of Colossians abrogate the law of the Sab bath ?—Answered in the negative. 2nd. Was repentance a duty before John the Baptist preached it?—Answered affirm atively. 3rd. Is the doctrine of everlasting punish ment made known by cause and effect, or by revelation only ? Answer, by revelation only. 4th. Was the Decalogue a law given to the Jews and Gentiles? Answer, to the Jews ; and under the Gospel dispensation, is binding upon the whole human family. sth. What is the duty of a church, in ref erence to a sister church in her community, which is heretical in doctrine, or grossly neg ligent in discipline ? Answer, strive to bring about a reformation; failing to do so, with draw fellowship. 6th. Can a less number than a majority of the members of the church transact business? Answer, they can. 7th. Is it lawful for a ehurch to receive for baptism, a man who has been divorced from his wife for any other cause than adultery ? Answered in the affirmative. Bth. Is Baptism the door of the church? Answer, it is. Oth. What is the duty of a minister whose churches habitually neglect to support him ? Answered with the following resolution: Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting, that it is the duty of the minister to declare to the church the whole counsel of God ; and, if he must do so, to labor in any lawful way to supply his necessities, but not other wise neglect his ministerial duties. The following Essay on the Duty of Deacons was read by Bro. E. Brooks, and adopted for publication: The Christian church differs from every other society. It is not like human organi zations —abandoned to the direction of carnal policy or fallible reason. It has the eternal God for its author; His children for its mem bers ; Hisjglory for its aim ; and His word for its guide. Its origin, its character, its laws and its duties are all revealed in the Bible ; and only from that book of unerring wis dom must we seek instruction on the subject before us. A church of Christ, as depicted in the New Testament, is a very simple or ganization. It is no complicated body. No ; it is a community of professed believers in Jesus, voluntarily associated in one place, to observe the worship and ordinances enjoined by Him, and to promote His kingdom in each other and the world. Each church, holding an equal relation to the King of Zion, is independent of all others and accountable only to Hirn. (They ought indeed to be united by love, and aid each other with fraternal sympathy.) The officers appointed by Christ through the Apostles to be permanent in His church, were Pastors, to labor for its spiritual wel fare, and Deacons to attend to its temporal affairs and to the poor. In the epistles to ths various churches these two only are men tioned as the regular officers; and their nec essary qualifications are specified minutely in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, third chapter. That they were chosen to office by the mem bers, is evident from the fact, that no provis ion was made for their choice in any other way, as well as from various instances of such election. The first Deacons were chosen by the whole multitude of Disciples: Acts VI: 1-6 Deacons must be grave; not double tongued ; not given to too much wine; not greedy of filthy lucre; holding the mys tery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved, then let them use the office of a Deacon, being found blame less. Even so must their wives be grave not slanderers ; sober ; faithful in all things. Let the Deacons be the husbands of one wife ruling their children and their own houses well, for they that have -used the office of a Deacon well purchase to themselves a .good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 11l 8-14. And now my brethren, after finding within the lids of the Bible who are the qualified members to fill the office of Deacon, I will proceed to give you what, in my humble opinion, their duties should be. Ist. They should take charge of the church house and its furniture, and cause the same to be taken care of and kept neat and in good order. They shall see that the necessary el ements be prepared on each communion day and they be at the church-house in due time. 2nd. If any member of the church should fail to commune, it is their duty to inquire into the same, and report the cause to the church. 3rd. It is the duty of the Deacons to see that all widowed members of the church for which they are chosen, who are in indi gent circumstances, are provided for, and that they as well as the other poor do not suffer. 4th. If there should arise any misunder standing, or hard-feeling or malice between church members, it is the duty of the Dea cons to endeavor to bring such members to gether, and, in brotherly love, use their best efforts to bring about a reconciliation of feel ing between them, so that peace and harmony, brotherly love and Christian fellowship may rule and reign throughout the church. sth. It is the duty of the deacons of the church to visit the sick ; to encourage young members, and to give gospel advice to all members of the church who need the same. 6th. The Pastor of the church should be supported by the church, for “the laborer is worthy of his hire;” and it is the duty of the Deacons to see that the Pastor and his family are cared for ; to collect contributions from the members of the church, and to pay the same to the pastor for his support. 7th. Deacons should so conduct themselves, by their orderly walk and godly conversa tion, that they may let their light so shine be fore the world that others seeing their good works, may be constrained to glorify our Fa ther in Heaven. And may every Deacon, together with every follower of the Lamb of God, be finally saved in the Heavenly King dom. Crumbs Gathered from a Trip North. On a beautiful and lovely morning we took the street cars, on Third Avenue, New York ; and all who have ever ridden in street cars agree that there is nothing very delight ful in it, only that you are not walking, un less you have good company. Well, on this morning I had that delightful privilege. It was a Baptist—l had like to have said preach er-, but no, it was an agent of a Baptist De pository —near kin to a preacher, first cousin, I reckon. At 26th Street, we left the cars and walked to the foot of the same. Here we saw the City Hospital, which is large. The area of ground surrounding it is considerable. Next, we be held the Morgue. O, how sad! how we shuddered, when through the window we saw the corpse of two men exposed to view, oil cloths spread over them and ice-water drip ping upon their chest. They had been picked up, either from a watery grave or elsewhere, and placed there for recognition by their friends, if friends they had. It is a French custom, and the Morgue has been established in New York but recently. Where so many are being drowned and lost, it is a great com fort to friends to have their lost ones picked up and kept from three to four days, in which time all who have lost a loved one can go to . the Morgue and search, often (hiding them, rescued to them, haggard corpses it is true, but the aching heart is relieved, and can de posit the remains in their own burial ground. After leaving this ghastly scene, we went on board the steamer Bellevue, and my friend escorted me on deck, where we could view all the surroundings. After a most delight ful sail out East River, we reached Black well’s island. As we came in sight, before landing, we saw prisoners by fifties and hun dreds working on the rock wall, repairing it, which is all around the island, to keep the earth from washing off. As the boat touches the island, we walk up to the office of the almshouse to procure a pilot for the day. Four ladies had visited the island at the same time, and they gave us all the same pilot. The almshouse is visited first. Here we find the aged and infirm. Everything is kept in perfect order; the floor are as clean as can be, reminding one.of their grand mothers in olden times, in the country, who used to keep their floors so very nice. A hospital stands near, for the incut able cases and those who are too sick to be up. These are large grey stone buildings. Now we come to the Lunatic Asylum. Here are two very large stone buildings; one in which the convalescing and those who are not so bad are kept, the other, in which those who are not so very wild and mad, that no one is allowed to visit them, are put. The first of these we were politely shown through. It has many conveniences, but I do not know if it is any better than our Asylum at Mid way. At the end of one-of the halls was a Bible and stand, arranged for preaching, which is kept up every Sabbath, I believe. Many of the patients in this part possess reason sufficient to like the gospel. Some of them do most beautiful work ; the women, the richest embroidery. _ The New York City Prison is located here also. It is an immense stone building. A large number of tiers, thirty cells in each tier. These tiers are placed in the centre, two rows, cells opening on each side, with a wide hall between them and the outside wall. Several stories high. At the time of our visit 420 prisoners were on hand, but none in cells during the day—out working. They are made to do servant’s work at Almshouse, Lunatic Asylum, etc., and cultivate vegeta bles for all the inmates of the island. Os this number 100 were women. The Clerk said there were more bad men than women, yet a bad woman was worse than a bad man. He had more difficulty in governing them. There was a very large work-house for the prisoners, in which nothing was doing. The term of each prisoner being so short, gener ally, it does not pay to put them to work in it, as they would be changing too frequently to learn how to work before they leave. We also visited the Charity Hospital. As we reach the door, a woman is seen outside weeping bitterly, and we learn, after enter ing, that she had just arrived from the city to see her sick daughter, whom she found dead. A great many occupy this hospital. How sad ! yet what a blessing, that such comfortable accommodations are provided for the needy. After leaving this building, we look round. What a lovely spot! How charming ! Beau tifi. residences and grounds, three or four occupied by the Wardens, etc. The whole island seems to be a “ Garden of Eden,” so many vegetables, flowers, c to. But alas t alas! like the Eden of our first parents, it is spoiled by sin ; disease, wickedness, and all the sadness of lunacy, make this delightful retreat dreadful. At 3 p.m. the Bellevue returns, and we leave, thinking how thankful and humble we should be that our lot is not appointed among such outcasts. The mercy of God alone re strains and preserves us. As we land at the city, we meet a huge wagon, all closed up, bearing prisoners to the island, and a young woman sitting with the driver, weeping. O, the bitterness and the st'ng of sin 1 No rest for the wicked. Femme. Macon, June ISStf. Southern Masonic Female College. Supposing it would not be inconsistent with the objects of your paper, to present to your numerous readers through its columns, a brief account of the very interesting exercises in connection with this noble institution, located in this place, (Covington, Ga.,) 1 will under take the task, though it will be my first appearance in a newspaper article. After a thorough examination of ull the classes, from the primary to the graduating class, the regular exercises of the Commence ment were opened by a sermon on Sab bath, June 20th, by Rev. E. A. Steed, of Thomson, Ga. The sermon was a lucid and forcible exhibition of Gospel truth. It left a fine impression upon the minds of all, both old and young, and, upon the hearts of some, produced the most intense feeling. In the judgment of some of the oldest citizens, a sermon so appropriate to the occasion has seldom been heard. On Monday night was the Sophomore exhibition, for the prizes in reading select pieces. After a spirited contest, in which twenty young ladies participated, the first prize was awarded by the committee' to Miss Mary Orr, and the second to Miss Mary Neal. It was quite difficultfor the committee to decide, where all read so well. On Tuesday was the Junior exhibition. Fourteen young ladies read their composi tions. While all were good, some possessed superior excellence. At the close of the ex ercises, Rev. E. A. Steed presented the prizes to the successful contestants of the Sophomore class, in a very appropriate'address, of about twenty-five minutes. This address was per vaded with sound sense, and at times sparkled with wit and glowed with eloquence; and the audience was delighted. In the afternoon Rev. A. G. Haygood delivered an eloquent and forcible address to the Orr and Butler Societies. For sound wisdom and timely counsel this address is rarely excelled. Tues day night was the Annual Concert. This was quite a success. In the first place, it was not burdensome by its length, and in the sec ond place, the pieces,were well selected, and in the third place, they were well performed, and as a sequence the audience were highly entertained. The entire performance bu*h vocal and instrumental, reflects much credit upon the fair instructresses in the music de partment —Mrs. Virginia Conyers, and Miss Floyd—and demonstrates most clearly, that the young have no need to go farther North to acquire a finished musical education. Wednesday was the great day of the feast. At an early hour the Masonic fraternity ap peared in appropriate regalia, headed by the Grand Lodge, and marshaleld by that veteran hero, Gen. G. T. Anderson, of your city. The spacious chapel being crowded to its utmost capacity, the exercises were opened with prayer, by Rev. D. E. Butler. After which fifteen young ladies who had, to the satisfaction of the Faculty, completed the prescribed course of study, read their essays regularly on to the address to the Masonic fraternity and the valedictory. To this ad dress, delivered to the Masonic fraternity, Rev. D. E. Butler responded in a way that no one else could, and while he was speaking, we were impressed with the thoughts, that if every Mason and Christian throughout’ the State, felt as he did, but few of the orphans would be without the advantages of a liberal education. The song “ Farewell,” w’as per formed by a number of the Musical Class, and but few could refrain from tears, when those loving hearts, so long united, were about to be separated, perhaps nevermore to meet again this side the grave. And last, but by no means least, was the baccalaureate of President Orr. His theme was, Woman’s true Relation to Society. This subject was handled as few can handle it. The views were sound arid Scriptural, well andl forcibly expressed. Would that the sentiments of that address were riveted upon the female hearts through out this vast country. The Levee in the College Hall, on Wednes day night, was a brilliant success. Such a secene of rational, social, witty, light and frivolous conversation, is rarely witnessed any where. There were probably not less than five hundred persons present, and a more pleasant season of enjoyment has never been witnessed in the town of Covington. Observer. To the Auxiliary S -cieties, Members and Friends of the American Bible Society, In North and Middle Georgia. The undersigned has been appointed As sistant Agent of the American Bible Society, for Georgia. The South line of the follow ing counties constitutes the Southern bounda ry of the field assigned him. Harris, Upson, Monroe, Jones, Baldwin, Hancock, Glascock and Richmond, thence North to the Tennes see line. The following suggestions, if observed, will promote the interest of the Bible cause in the above named district. Auxiliary Societies. 1. Each Bible Society that has held its annual meeting will please report the same to me immediately, also see that the proper reports have been made to the Parent Soci ety. 2. I will attend, the present year, the An nual Meetings of the Societies formed in 1868, by Rev. R. H. Lucky, Agent. 3. It is the duty of the Executive Com mittee of each Society, to keep a record of all acts, in the general work of supplying the county with Bibles and Testaments, and re port the same through the Cor. Sec. at the annual meeting. 4. It is the duty of the Treasurer to keep an accurate account of ail amounts received and paid out by the Society, ana report the same at the Annual Meeting. 5. It is the duty of the Depositary to keep an account of the number and value of Bi bles and Testaments received, sold, and do nated, and report the same, with number and value on hand, at the Annual Meeting. 6. I will visit, and reorganize, as rapidly as possible, the societies that existed before the war. Bible Committees. 1. It is the of Bible Committees to keep an account of the tiumberand value of Bibles and Testaments received, soldaud do nated. 2. Should Bible Committees need a supply of books and know not how to order them, by writing to me the number and quality de sired, they w ill be ordered. 3. Bible Societies and Committees should keep books on shelves, convenient to all, and not in boxes. Pastors and members of the various churches, and all friends of the Bible oause in North and Middle Georgia, are most earn estly solicited to co-operate with the Ameri can Bible Society, especially in supplying Sabbath schools, and the destitute poor, with ttie Holy Scriptures “without note or com- Wm. A. Parks, j Assistant Agent American Bible Society, for Georgia. P. 0. : Newnan, Ga. Church Politics.— The Baltimore Episeo pal Methodist says : Strangely enough, while a majority of Northern Methodists iu Ohio and New York and New Jersey vote the democratic ticket and look upon the acts ot Congress as unconstitutional and ruinous, their church authorities give the entire influ ence of the church press and treasury to the support of these very measures, and even dare to endorse them with the tremendous name of God 1 a his is the most extraordinary triumph of a church over its membership to be found in history. It is anew problem f<>r moral pathology v
